3rd District Congressional Debate
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 11/1/08 @ 11:09 am - Filed Under 2008 Local Elections, Featured
I attended yesterday’s debate at IPFW involving the three candidates running for the 3rd District Congressional seat. In general it’s nearly impossible to gain any real information from these debates as the candidates have to sum up their positions in 30 or 90 second soundbites. But I’ll give my general impression of the candidates’ performance. You can follow the link given on the Allen County Democratic Party’s blog if you want to watch it yourself.
Bill Larsen (L) - I’ve spoke with Lasen before and he’s an intelligent guy - he’s an engineer but he’s no politician. He just doesn’t know how to connect with people to get his point across. He was clearly uncomfortable on stage and his closing argument was so statistics-laced that nobody could follow it.
Mark Souder (R) - Souder has come a long ways as a public speaker but his entire message during the debate was an attack on Montagano. He also had the audacity to complain about how negative the campaign has been and how he has been unfairly attacked. Souder’s entire campaign - nay, his entire political existence - has become intellectually bankrupt. He articulated no new ideas or coherent message about why the voters of this district should continue to support him. He has become a career politician who is scared to death that he might have to return to the private sector and earn his keep.
Mike Montagano (D) - Montagano seemed nervous at times but he was able to point to specific votes where he felt Souder had broke with the wishes of his constituents. Montagano is young, ambitious and has relatively little experience but is that such a bad thing in this case? I know what I’m getting with Mark Souder and it ain’t much.
I’ve spoken with Montagano and he’s an extremely intelligent and personable guy who has a good grasp on the issues this country faces. He’s the type of guy that everybody likes and after speaking with him you may not agree with him but you will respect him and his position.
I’ve heard rumblings from people that wished former councilman Tom Hayhurst would’ve ran again this year but I don’t agree with that. Montagano is a better choice and I don’t mean that as a slight to Tom Hayhurst. They both have the intellect but Montagano has the personality that will allow him to succeed in Congress - an area where Souder has been a miserable failure and will continue to be so with the Democratic majority.
I won’t bother to try and analyze who won or lost the debate because the truth is that it doesn’t matter. It all boils down to this - will voters continue to send a sub-par career politician back to DC or take a chance on the young, intelligent yet inexperienced guy?
If you are unhappy with Souder and want to replace him then this is your chance. If not now when? Do you want to be voting for a 36-year incumbent Mark Souder in the future? Don’t fool yourself into thinking the primary process will take him out - it won’t; it rarely ever does. The only way to oust incumbents is to vote for the other party and regroup in two years.
If you’re so inclined then there’s still time to help get rid of Mark Souder. Call (574-971-8708) or e-mail (Jen@montaganoforcongress.com) the Montagano office and ask them what you can do. Or donate to the campaign - think of it as contributing to Mark Souder’s going away party…
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10 Responses to “3rd District Congressional Debate”
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You are correct, I am an engineer and with 90 seconds it is difficult answer a question. To make it worse, due to the head injury I sustained in the Navy 29 years ago, I have a problem with bright lights. I was having difficulty standing.
What this goes to show is that both Souder and Montagano can give quick answers without substance. Maybe that is why we have the problem we have with energy, economy, deficits, social security, etc. These take more than 90 seconds to answer.
I should have pointed out that Montagano who wants to save Social Security, provide health insurance for all and a middle class tax cut just can’t have it all. Middle class does not pay federal income taxes, they pay payroll taxes (Medicare and Social Security).
Souder on the other hand says the bailout legislation is still being formulated. How do you vote on a bill that has no criteria and bench marks?
Both Souder and Montagano have no idea what energy is. Souder brought up Steal Dynamics, but they use natural gas not electricity. The RV industry uses electricity for welders, punches, sheet metal fabrication, etc.
Please check out my position on issues at
http://www.justsayno.50megs.com
Be sure to vote November 4
Jeff, in all serious, I need to ask:
You say that Mike Montagano is “intelligent and has a good grasp on the issues”. This seems wholly inconsistent with the fact that Montagano could not get the Journal Gazette endorsement. The JG seems to despise Souder but yet they picked him over Montagano THIS year in a climate where the dems can finally win. This just seems to be inconsistent. It may be a leap, but I took the JG endorsement to mean that Montagano had little or no grasp on the issues and that he is just a kid playing dress up.
Green Jeans raises a good point. I always believed that you could pull anyone off the street, have him memorize some DNC press releases (or John Colgate’s posts on this blog, same difference), and in an hour or two you could have him walk out of the local paper with an endorsement for Congress. So what shame do they believe Montagano will bring to the district that they have to hold their nose and endorse Souder?
Green Jeans,
I have no idea why the JG does anything they do and frankly I don’t care. You are assuming they actually know something about the issues and I think that’s a bad assumption. Perhaps Montagano didn’t stroke their egos delicately enough.
All I can speak to is the few personal, albeit brief, conversations I’ve had with Montagano.
Mike speaks a good game (unlike me), but to seriously say you want to save Social Security, provide insurance to children and provide a middle class tax cut is contradictory.
Most taxpayers pay little to no federal income tax so what middle class tax cut is he talking about? Is he going to borrow $120 billion during deficit years (the last budget surplus was 1957) and pass the debt onto our children and grandchildren? Or is he talking about the single largest tax that middle class taxpayers pay, PAYROLL TAXES? If he is talking about cutting payroll taxes, how does he keep his promise to save social security?
Souder is no different. He says he brings back earmarks because if he did not, our district would not get our fair share. Wow, fair share. Do we pay our fair share of the national debt? Are we giving our fair share to our children, the ones who have to pay the finance cost on the deficits?
We all complain about the price of oil, but government is the main culprit. They created the debt we have, the value of the dollar fell in relation to world currencies, the price of oil went up resulting in higher gas prices. Higher gas prices led to higher inflation. Higher inflation led to higher interest rates. This led families to cut back on spending elsewhere. It most likely precipitated the foreclosure we see. This then resulted in AIG going under. Then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went under. This had a lot to do with the legislation to increase home ownership without addressing the ability to pay for a home not to mention the maintenance costs associated with owning a home.
Now we let government bailout the institutions that got greedy, made bad loans, but sold them to the rest of the world. When it was found that the rest of the world had bought into the subprime market their currencies began to fall. This led to a rise in the dollar resulting in the lower oil prices.
How does the government make more money available, than there already is now, to companies to borrow by borrowing $810 billion and giving it to those institutions who cannot handle money wisely? If Bank A made bad loans, while banks B, C, and D are fine, how does borrowing money from people who would otherwise put money in to banks B, C and D into Bank A help companies borrow money? Why would those needing to borrow money simply change doing business with the bad bank and go to Banks B, C and D? Oh, I get it; it is the full faith and credit of the United States Government (taxpayer). So Souder flipped a coin and bet the farm.
In the end Souder does not propose any change to deficits and Montagano proposes spending more and providing middle class tax relief, the same disease we have had for the past 51 years. The News Sentinel had stated it right.
“In the end Souder does not propose any change to deficits and Montagano proposes spending more and providing middle class tax relief, the same disease we have had for the past 51 years. The News Sentinel had stated it right.”
When a child is sick, you give them medicine. Those with kids know their child will fight to swallow a pill or swallow the medicine even though we know it is good for them. Will the American Voter take the medicine to make us better?
My problem goes back to 1979 when a turbine exploded beneath my feet. Traumatic head injury coupled with severe loss of blood, steam burns, then covered with high temperature paint from the paint locked next to where I was standing and then all the flying debris slicing. I have difficulty speaking ever since 1979. Words are sometimes difficult to get out. However, the neurologists say my analytical ability is still way above average. If you want good speakers, I most likely not the person you want in congress. If you want someone who can vote intelligently on issues and represent your voice, then Larsen is your candidate.
The person who found me can be seen on page 5A of the JG in Saturday’s paper.
I know what to expect with Souder - nothing. I have very little faith that anyone in this district will do much of anything the next couple of years. I say vote for Michael to get Souder out of office. He wont run again (thankfully) and maybe we can get a good candidate in after a couple of years.
I think it’s unlikely Souder loses, but he needs to go. His ads have been terribly negative and show the depths Souder would go to win ugly. If Hayhurst runs this time he wins.
I actually watched the debate yesterday on a replay of some sort. I have to say that I was very surprised because Montagano clearly made the best presentation. No wonder why Souder refused to debate him often. Souder uses too much “inside baseball” type stuff that the average voter does not want to hear.
By the way, the lightbulb finally went off as to why the JG did not endorse Mike Montagano. In the JG’s mind, the only thing worse than a Pro-Life, Pro-Gun Christian Republican, is a Pro-Life, Pro-Gun Christian Democrat. Sorry that it took me so long to figure this one out.
Mr. Larsen, I watched the debate and I must admit, I came away impressed with the amount of facts and figures you had to support your positions. You clearly know your stuff even if some of it is kind of “out there”. You deserve a lot of credit for having the guts to stand on that stage and put yourself in that arena.
Green Jeans… get a life.
If you think… you will get it.